Tuesday, September 28, 2010

"Another thing I want to say," Longoria said, completely unprompted. "We only had like 15,000 fans out there. In 2008, when we clinched, this place was packed. We played 155 games this season and it's kind of like what else do you have to do to draw fans in this place. It's actually embarrassing for us."

...

"It doesn't have any bearing on the effort we bring to the table every day," Longoria said. "But we're talking about a team in a playoff hunt with the opportunity to clinch. You could at least get 30,000 in here to cheer you onto it.

"Again, it's disheartening. It's something I've been wanting to say for a long time. It's not a jab at the fans. It's not a kick below the belt. Obviously, you want to bring a championship to Tampa and we'd like for more than 12- to 15,000 to know about it."

...

"It's a tough situation for us," Longoria said. "A lot of the visiting teams come in and wonder where are all the fans. It's actually a little bit embarrassing for us. We're one game away from clinching a postseason spot. We have enough guys in this room to celebrate with, but we'd love to celebrate it with the fans, too.

"Of course, I've thought about this a long time. I'm not trying to take a low blow at the fans. I'm actually trying to rally the troops and get more people in here. I'm not trying to say that we have bad fans or any of that because, believe me, I've been here since '06 and I love the Tampa Bay community. It's just tough to see and I feel like I was the right guy to be able to say that."

Those quotes should go over well with the Tampa faithful...Well, that's if any of them are paying attention.

"Another thing I want to say," Longoria said, completely unprompted. "We only had like 15,000 fans out there. In 2008, when we clinched, this place was packed. We played 155 games this season and it's kind of like what else do you have to do to draw fans in this place. It's actually embarrassing for us."

...

"It doesn't have any bearing on the effort we bring to the table every day," Longoria said. "But we're talking about a team in a playoff hunt with the opportunity to clinch. You could at least get 30,000 in here to cheer you onto it.

"Again, it's disheartening. It's something I've been wanting to say for a long time. It's not a jab at the fans. It's not a kick below the belt. Obviously, you want to bring a championship to Tampa and we'd like for more than 12- to 15,000 to know about it."

...

"It's a tough situation for us," Longoria said. "A lot of the visiting teams come in and wonder where are all the fans. It's actually a little bit embarrassing for us. We're one game away from clinching a postseason spot. We have enough guys in this room to celebrate with, but we'd love to celebrate it with the fans, too.

"Of course, I've thought about this a long time. I'm not trying to take a low blow at the fans. I'm actually trying to rally the troops and get more people in here. I'm not trying to say that we have bad fans or any of that because, believe me, I've been here since '06 and I love the Tampa Bay community. It's just tough to see and I feel like I was the right guy to be able to say that."

Those quotes should go over well with the Tampa faithful...Well, that's if any of them are paying attention.